Kendrick Perkins Throws Down Jason Maxiell, and Max Wants to Throw Down

That's Kendrick Perkins headhunting Jason Maxiell, getting himself booted during the fourth quarter of a tight road game against a rival. Smart move, Holmes. More ridiculous than this unnecessary foul were the arguments from Perk's teammates that the Big 'Drick shouldn't have been ejected.

Paul Pierce told the Boston Globe that this kind of foul isn't out of the ordinary. Right.

"That sparked our ball club, when we saw Perk leaving the game," captain Paul Pierce said. "That's part of a physical game; he never had any intention of hurting the guy. You see that every other day in the NBA."

That's a lie. Players do not rope other player around the neck and throw them to the ground every other day. And Maxiell isn't exactly a dainty waif; the muscular Perk had to use more than casual effort to nearly turn Max upside down. This is not your usual hard foul.

Andrew Bynum's foul on Gerald Wallace -- the one that ended with Crash spending a night in the hospital with a partially collapsed lung -- didn't get an ejection or suspension because of perceived intent. The thinking seemed to be that because Bynum was more reckless than dirty, he shouldn't be punished further than the flagrant-2 fine and the sad face on his personnel file.

Maxiell didn't get injured here, but it's (obviously) just as bad (if not worse). The league needs to put Perk on his ass for a game. Bynum's body check doesn't improve the game; it isn't necessary to keep basketball "a man's sport." But I can understand the arguments that the (extremely regrettable) end result made Bynum's foul look worse than it was. But Perk has no excuse. These dirty antics shouldn't be a part of the game.